What is Chronic Pain
Chronic pain becomes chronic when it persists longer than 6 months and is resistant to medical management. Millions of Americans are chronic pain patients and some exper...
Join Now
|
Pain Worse During Periods?
|
Watch this |
| View More Posts Ignore |
Hey guys,
You'll be happy to know that my hands and wrists are feeling better, and it wasn't from the typing!! It was from physical therapy, believe it or not. For a lot of the exercises, I have to be on my hands and knees. Well, it's been a long time since I'm spent 25 minutes on my hands, let alone with my wrists uncomfortably sunk into the cushiony surface of the treatment table! So yeah, I've begun hanging onto the side of the table and that helps a lot! Plus my arms and such are getting stronger, so that's helping too! My entire body got kind of deconditioned.... So, this means I'm back to posting :-D Anyway, I'm just getting off of a terrible pain "episode," and it all began - not with PT last week, amazingly - but with my period!!! Not only were the cramps pure agony (they are usually pretty bad but rarely this bad), but my normal pain increased so dramatically. I was literally in the bathtub crying for hours. I was a terrible sight. Concerning the severity of my menstrual cramps, they've always been bad, but I'm really not sure why. I've had a pelvic MRI and they did not notice any sort of endometriosis tumors or whatever so I don't think it's that.... Anyway, back to my story. I finally took a flexeril and that helped, at least with the cramps. I'm trying my best to avoid all anti-inflammatories, but that's really all that can get rid of terrible menstrual inflammation and cramping. My husband wanted to take me to the ER because he hates to see me in pain but I said no way! Maybe I should have gone but I hate hospitals so bad...I have hospitalaphobia big time! Anyone else have this? My PT - Dan - worked on me this AM. My pelvis was out of alignment. He taught my husband how to correct this. After he corrected my pelvis he gave me a good rub down on my posterior, put on my SI belt, and sent me to the exercise person for my exercises. I asked Dan why in the heck after every period my pelvis is a mess and hurts so bad. Granted it used to be worse when I just began prolotherapy, but it's still pretty painful! He said that during your period the body excretes the hormone relaxin which relaxes all the ligaments in the pelvis, kind of like what happens during pregnancy. This is why my pelvis gets out of alignment and my muscles (esp. piriformis) go into painful spasm. So do any ladies (sorry guys!) find that your pain flares really bad during that time of the month? What, if anything, do you do about it? Do birth control pills get rid of these hormonal fluctuations? On another note, for a few days after a flare like that I experience fear/anxiety over the next flare of pain. It's like waiting for the other shoe to fall and is psychologically awful. I expect you guys feel the exact same way. How do you deal? I love you all and am happy to have my hands, wrists, and forearms back yay!!! -Orchid Posted on 12/02/08, 08:12 pm |
| 9 Replies | Add Your Reply |
| View More Posts Ignore |
My pain is increased when I have my period at least for the first day or two. I started on birth control after I had emergency surgery to remove some bleeding ovarian cysts as the bc helpes prevent this from happening again. My back pain wasn't too bad back then so I'm not sure if monthly birth control helps with this pain. Now, since my back hurts worse when I have my period, I am on birth control for 3 months in a row before I get a period, and might I tell you, this is GREAT!!! I'm not so sure this helps with the pain but I only feel the pain every 3 months so it's much better. Plus, a period every 3 months, this is the way God should have made it in the first place, haha!!! I'm glad to see you're back and feeling better my dear friend!!! Now nearly everyone is back, only missing one family member is still missing... I hope you find something to help you and if you do, let me know please!!!
Much love, Lisa 
|
|
|
|
||
| View More Posts Ignore |
hey Lisa!!!!
Yeah I agree, we menstruate WAYYYYY too often - I mean seriously!!! In the future, I'm probably just going to "take a flexeril and forget it." Are you on the depo shot? I was on that many years back, but it had a nasty side-effect for me, so I can't do that one. Maybe I'll go on those once a day pills. Anyway, don't tell me you and I are the only ones with periods on this forum! How bout you other ladies!!! :-D With lots of caring, Orchid
|
|
|
|
||
| View More Posts Ignore |
i find that the week before my period is bad... my chronic fatigue gets twice as bad, i can hardly get myself out of bed. that then starts my joint pain to kick in, and it lasts until my period is over. every month. i cannot take birth control pills, as i have hepc, but would if i could! damn, as if we all dont have enough pain to worry about!
|
|
|
|
||
| View More Posts Ignore |
During the time of the month the pain is so mush worse escpically with my back.
I dont get out of bed for at least 2 days while i have them.
|
|
|
|
||
| View More Posts Ignore |
Well dear orchid I'm sorry I didn't get to this one sooner but I was enjoying "my Willie", (if you don't know what that means then pop over to my page:) !
Anyways you know I do have severe endometriosis so you are definately preaching to the choir on this one!! If you can tolerate it Motrin (ibprofen) should help ease some of your period pain, and you are right to take the flexerial also. There is a definate correlation between our periods and our pain, especially those with low back problems, the laxity issues that your PT person spoke of, plus with those hormones come a lot of emotional responses too. You should check with your Doc about some options to help with this. I can tell you that I also had a very bad experience with the Depo-provera shot (but we are all different). Please check with your Doc Hon there are a lot of different ways to approach our periods now. I wonder if some of our holistic wise friends may know of some natural homeopathic ways to deal with these problems (always check with your Doc first before trying anything, please..I learned this the hard way, tried some Estroven once and the black cohosh in it blew my lymphedema issues out of the ballpark...live and learn...and pass it on down). Good post!
|
|
|
|
||
| View More Posts Ignore |
I get more uncomfortable with my period and my pills don't help so much. Birth control has helped though.
|
|
|
|
||
| View More Posts Ignore |
I take pills, I'm scared of the shot!!!
|
|
|
|
||
| View More Posts Ignore |
Definitely! And here I thought I was the only one! :) Yes, it is so bad that I also have to stay in bed, and it starts a few days before, then continues the entire week ....and every pasrt of my body is affected, like a really bad flu....it sucks!
|
|
|
|
||
| View More Posts Ignore |
Hey guys,
I totally hear you. With all the pain we have to deal with in the first place, the added period crap sucks hugely! Well, unless I am dying from cramps, birth control is really out the door for me since I am trying to heal and the estradiol in birth control - like estrogen itself - is catabolic (anti-healing). I am trying to keep my body in an anabolic (healing) state. Incidentally, because females have crappy hormones like estrogen (catabolic) and relaxin (makes you more prone to injuries), while men have anabolic hormones like testosterone, women tend to be more prone to chronic pain than men. My doctor actually prescribed a bio-identical progesterone (anabolic) creme for me to use post-ovulation to aid with connective tissue healing. Anyway, I asked my doc about getting rid of those nasty cramps yesterday. You see, since I get prolotherapy, which causes healing inflammation, I really should not take anti-inflammatories, because ,well, that doesn't make sense. Anyway, he prescribed an anti-inflammatory medication for me that I can apparently use while getting prolotherapy because it doesn't contain something called "cox" (??) The med is called "Limbrel" - any of you guys ever heard of it?? Oh, and about the holistic remedies, yes I have tried holistic formulations that contain all the herbs and such that are supposed to ease menstrual cramps. Didn't touch my cramps, unfortunately, and made me feel a little high actually...weird. With lots of caring, Orchid
|
|
|
|
||
